August 2025 Newsletter
Hi friend,
I hope you are having a wonderful and fulfilling summer. I have been gardening a lot this season. I pruned overgrown shrubs until my thumbs got sore! Creating a pollinator flower garden feels like designing a 3-D work of art with a mind of its own. My challenge has been to not over-plant, reining in my impatience to see lots of growth and color right away.
Creating enough space for each plant to grow to maturity feels like a theme that touches every area of my life this summer. We’ve created space by letting go of stuff cluttering the garage and closets. I am creating mental space through meditation and saying “no” to energy draining activities, and by revising my schedule to accommodate a new puppy (!), a morning walk, exercise and still get to my studio every morning fresh and inspired to paint.
In this newsletter:
I won Third Place for my painting “Morning Shadows on the Sandias”, 16x20, oil, at the American Impressionist National Juried Show at Classens Gallery in Hamilton, Montana!
I won the Jeffrey Potter Memorial Award for my plein air painting “Cloudscape”, 8x10, oil, at the Plein Air Painters of New Mexico National Show at Legends of the West Fine Art Gallery in Santa Fe, NM!
We have a brand-new micro Bernedoodle puppy named Pippa. A decision to adopt her was made spontaneously out of pure joy. And… she almost sleeps through the night.
Enjoy!
Third Place Award at the American Impressionist National Juried Show
The Judge of Awards for this show was Ned Mueller, AIS Master. I was thrilled and honored to win this award from him and AIS. Here are the comments he made about this painting: “This a beautiful, orchestrated painting. Wonderful, subtle colors in that mountain. It is worth every artist to go up there and study it. Design-wise, color, temperature. It is a wonderful, high-key execution of design.”
This painting is one of my personal favorites, inspired by mornings in a quiet arroyo off Forest Road 333, where the road climbs toward La Cueva Trail. At first light, the Sandias lie in shadow, and their granite cliffs glow with luminous blues and violets. The colors shift quickly as the sun rises, making those early moments especially precious. In that stillness, with only birdsong threading through the piñons and junipers, I sought to capture the fleeting harmony of shadow and light that defines the mountain’s morning presence.
Morning Shadows on the Sandias, 16x20, oil (sold)
Jeffrey Potter Award at the Plein Air Painters of New Mexico National Show
At Ghost Ranch, NM, the sky often feels as vast and commanding as the cliffs themselves. On the day I painted this cloudscape, towering cumulus clouds rose and dissolved in the high desert air, casting shifting patterns of light and shadow across the land. I was struck by the sheer drama above me—the way the clouds billowed with strength yet drifted with grace, reflecting subtle violets, cool grays, and sunlit whites. Painting there was an act of awe and response. The sky offered a performance too powerful to ignore. This piece is my attempt to preserve that fleeting majesty, where earth and sky meet in an ever-changing dialogue.
Cloudscape, 8x10, oil, award winner
Juniper Patterns, 8x10, oil
On the Easel Now
When I bring a plein air painting back into the studio, my goal is to honor its original spirit while gently refining it. I strengthen value patterns—clarifying the relationship of darks and lights—while adjusting color harmonies as needed for balance and unity. Texture is enhanced selectively to reinforce design or atmosphere. I avoid overworking, making only a few targeted adjustments, so the energy and authenticity of the plein air study remain intact. I love this process. It deepens my experience of nature.
These are oil paintings, 8x10 inches or smaller. They were all painted of the Sandia Mountains in Albuquerque, in various locations and times of day.
Pippa!
This little girl stole our hearts immediately. She is 13 weeks old. She is the sister to my daughter Madeleine"s puppy, who at nine months is a sweetheart and is full-grown weighing in at 15 pounds. So Pippa will be little, too. Madeleine commented to me, "Mom, in my whole life I've never seen you make a major decision in under 30 minutes! You must have been processing this subconsciously all summer!" Maybe so. One of the best decisions ever.
Welcome to the family, Pippa!
I hope the rest of your summer is fun and brings you whatever your heart desires.
Barbara
Me in my studio